Mistletoe Mischief
by ilovetvalot
Summary: When Sean Hotchner concocts a dangerous scheme, will it be Emily's downfall or her salvation? TWOSHOT
1. Chapter 1

_**Author's Note:**_

_**It is our pleasure to announce the winners in the first 2010 Profiler's Choice Criminal Minds Awards on ! All winners and winning fics were first nominated by their peers then chosen in final ballot by 179 voters.**_

_**We are thrilled with the outpouring of support that we received during this three month process from all the fellow authors/readers for this first-ever fanfic. net-based awards program! When we first discussed this idea, we were hopeful for at least fifty voters. As you can see, our expectations were more than just exceeded. We thank each and every one of you for making these awards successful. Without you, this could not have happened. Please visit "Chit Chat on Author's Corner" forum to view the winners thread! Congrats to all our nominees and winners! Working with each of you guys has been a pleasure.**_

_**As you may or may not know, Tonnie and I intend to make this an annual event and we're already looking forward to next year - after we recuperate, that is.**_

_**In other news, December 25th is right around the corner. Everyone that signed up for the CM Christmas Fic Exchange, please remember your stories. We want this to be a WONDERFUL gift experience for all involved. If you have any questions, feel free to pm either myself (ilovetvalot) or tonnie2001969.**_

_**Finally, if any of you have any idea for issues/activities that you'd like to see "Chit Chat on Author's Corner" forum tackle in the form of discussion threads and/or challenges, please let us know. We want to bring you all some really fun threads in the New Year!**_

_**As always, thank you to every reader, reviewer, favoriter, and alerter that enjoys our stories. Hearing from each of you means a great deal. Now, on with our story!**_

* * *

**Mistletoe Mischief**

_**Prompt: Lauren Willie -**__** The Mischief of the Mistletoe**_

**Chapter One**

Silently fuming as she realized how stupid she was to allow herself to be suckered in to a pointless plan, Emily Prentiss fought to remain poised amid the sea of people that currently surrounded her. How exactly had she allowed herself to be coaxed into this untenable position? She was a smart woman...much too intelligent to be conned by the Hotchner Casanova smirking beside her…wasn't she?

"I can't believe I let you talk me into this," Emily whispered under her breath to the handsome man standing beside her. His warm arm was wrapped around her waist, securing her to his side…almost as if he expected her to bolt at any moment. Which, she admitted with gritted teeth, was a very distinct possibility.

"Would you just smile?" Sean Hotchner said, his lips forming a wicked grin as he caught his brother glaring at him from the other side of the room again. What was this? The sixth time in less than ten minutes? His plan was working to perfection, if he did say so himself. Which he did. It wasn't often that the younger Hotchner was able to find a chink in his brother's armor. But when he did, exploitation became the name of the game…especially when he felt it was in his brother's best interest.

"I am smiling," Emily ground out from behind tight lips, nodding to Morgan and Garcia across the room. From the looks on the faces of her teammates, she knew that she would be doing some seriously explaining in the very near future.

"No, what you're doing is baring your teeth," Sean chided, barely concealing his grimace as Emily buried her elbow in his ribs. "Relax, it's working," he soothed as a soft, slow Christmas song began to play.

"This is dumb," Emily huffed, her eyes narrowing as she felt glares being thrown in her direction. "I can't believe I let you talk me into this crazy scheme, Sean," she said with a grimace, glancing up at him.

Shaking his head as her irritated voice reached his ear, Sean smoothly guided the fiery brunette toward the dance floor. "Let's dance," he suggested easily, tightening his hand against her narrow waist.

"Sean," Emily groaned, reluctantly letting her guide her toward the throng of people already on the tiled dance floor.

"Just trust me," he said calmly, barely containing his glee as he watched Aaron stiffen when he wrapped his arms around Emily. "You promised to give me one night to prove to you that my brother has feelings for you. You never put any stipulations on how this thing went down," he chided, smoothly leading her around the floor, years of dance lessons finally paying off in spades.

"I never imagined you'd want to do it so publicly though," Emily complained, following his slow, lazy pace as he twirled her around the crowded floor. Really, she never imagined that Sean would choose the Bureau's annual Christmas party to try to draw Aaron out of his hard, self-imposed shell. And as much as she appreciated Hotch's brother's help, she couldn't help feeling as if she was on display, the curious stares they were drawing from her colleagues enough to convince her that this had been a massive misstep. All she needed now was for Erin Strauss to show up…all this celebration was lacking was the annual appearance of the Grinch.

"Aaron needs to see that you aren't going to wait for him forever," Sean objected as he danced her toward his brother, calculating his steps with the precision of marathon runner. "Now look at me and laugh, damn it," he smiled down at her, winking as her enraged eyes glared up at him. "He's watching," Sean drawled, casually looking over to the corner where Hotch stood, his dark eyes glinting dangerously when Sean moved his hand lower on Em's back, hovering dangerously close to the curve of her ass.

"Sean," Emily warned, forcing herself to follow his direction and laugh up at him in spite of the warning quivers in her chest, "If your hand goes any lower, I'm going to have no problem adding your balls to the ones already hanging on the Christmas tree."

"Ohhhh," Sean grinned, looking down at her with eyes glittering with mirth, "why, Ms. Prentiss, you have a kinky side," he teased, tugging her closer as the muscle in his brother's jaw flexed visibly.

"And a dangerous one," Emily replied sweetly, deliberately stepping on Sean's toes with her stiletto heel. "One you're about to meet personally." As Dean Martin continued to sing about the weather being cold outside, Emily barely resisted screaming as Sean Hotchner's hands slid lower, cupping her to him. Why, oh why, had she allowed the charming Hotchner brother to persuade her into this juvenile bid for Aaron's attention? Was she that desperate to get her Unit Chief to admit that she was a living, breathing female worthy of his attention? When has she lost her normally excellent good sense that had served her well for years?

True, when Sean had made his case over lunch out last week, she'd been intrigued. It was no secret to anyone that she'd mooned over her Unit Chief for more years than she cared to think about...but this last ditch attempt to seduce him was unthinkably risky. What if Hotch changed his opinion of her because of this show she and her partner in crime were currently engaged in? What if she pushed him even further away?

What if she lost him forever?

"Em," Sean murmured against her ear as he kept one eye on his rapidly devolving brother, "we discussed this. I told you, sometimes Aaron needs a helpful shove in the right direction. I wanna see my brother happy again and you're the key to that. So don't give up now that we're so close to the breakthrough that will allow us all to live happily ever after."

Relaxing against Sean's muscular body as the music shifted to Celine Dion singing about the holy night, Emily allowed the youngest Hotchner brother's calming words to soothe her frayed nerves. Maybe he was right. Maybe all Aaron needed was a little direction. And if a little deception could do that, then who was she to argue with fate? Or Sean Hotchner?


	2. Chapter 2

_**Author's Note:**_

_**Just a reminder, December 25th is right around the corner. Everyone that signed up for the CM Christmas Fic Exchange, please remember your stories. We want this to be a WONDERFUL gift experience for all involved. If you have any questions, feel free to pm either myself (ilovetvalot) or tonnie2001969.**_

_**Finally, if any of you have any idea for issues/activities that you'd like to see "Chit Chat on Author's Corner" forum tackle in the form of discussion threads and/or challenges, please let us know. We want to bring you all some really fun threads in the New Year!**_

_**As always, thank you to every reader, reviewer, favoriter, and alerter that enjoys our stories. Hearing from each of you means a great deal. Now, on with our story!**_

* * *

**Mistletoe Mischief**

**Chapter Two**

"You'd better be right," Emily muttered against Sean's shoulder, her lips quirking as she let out a deep sigh.

Grinning down at the beautiful brunette as the music ended, Sean winked. "It's time to up the ante, Em," he whispered, winking at his brother as they passed him and nearly shouting victory as the other man's face became thunderous.

"Huh?" Em grunted as she felt her "date" guide her toward the room's threshold. Up the ante? Was he insane? She'd seen Aaron's face as they passed him...upping the ante might very well result in a Christmas homicide if his face had been anything to judge by. She wasn't sure whether she should be thrilled...or terrified by what she'd seen briefly in those dark depths.

"We gotta go all in on the pot," Sean murmured as he looked down into her confused eyes, easily shifting her lithe body as he positioned them both for maximum exposure.

"Sean, what are you suggesting?" Emily murmured suspiciously as she looked into Sean's deviously dancing eyes.

"It's time to make a little mischief under the mistletoe, Miss Emily," Sean stated, doing his most convincing imitation of Cary Grant as he saw Aaron approaching from the corner of his eye. "Pucker up, Pretty Girl," he breathed, hoping like hell this worked...and that it didn't hurt too much. It was a toss-up who was gonna inflict the most damage on him. But, damn, he was tired of watching two of his favorite people dance around what was obvious. And since he had no idea what to get his only brother for Christmas, he had decided to offer himself up as the sacrificial lamb…and ensure some goodwill in the following aftermath.

Perplexed, Emily's eyes narrowed. "Pucker - wha-," she stuttered, eyes widening as she watched Hotch's young brother's head descend. Oh, God! Surely he wasn't…he couldn't…

But he was. And he could. And he did!

Grinning, Sean Hotchner's mouth had barely grazed Emily's soft lips as he felt himself wrenched backward, landing against the wall with a dull thud. "Hey, Bro!" he grinned, meeting his older sibling's enraged gaze. "You interrupted my Christmas kiss," he complained, shoving a hand into his pocket as he forced an affronted look on his face.

"Allow me to replace it with a Christmas punch then," Aaron Hotchner retorted, his voice tight with anger as his fist flew towards his brother's jaw with a purpose and precision all watching would privately applaud in years to come.

"Oomph," Sean grunted, staggering as Aaron's fist impacted. "Nice one," he choked, cupping his cheek as he straightened again, shaking his head as he tried to quell the ringing in his ears.

"Aaron!" Emily gasped, her eyes wide as Hotch drew back his arm again. Grabbing his arm, she ordered, "Stop it!"

Chuckling, Sean nodded. "Yes, Aaron. _Stop,_" he chuckled despite the pain in his jaw.

"Sean," Emily hissed, aware that they were drawing a crowd. "Stop goading him. Both of you, outside. Now," she added determinedly, dragging Hotch out the door as he glared at his younger brother, who was still laughing gleefully. Glancing behind her to ensure that Sean dutifully followed, Emily barely suppressed her own amusement. It had worked! The stoic Aaron Hotchner had cracked under the pressure. And while she hated to give Sean credit for that miracle, she had to admit that his plan had been perfect.

Now she just had to find a way to keep the two brothers from fighting for real.

Placing herself between Hotch and Sean as they reached a deserted corridor, Emily inhaled deeply as Sean's hyena-like laughter continued.

"My brother, Emily?" Aaron growled, his affronted gaze swinging in her direction. "You went out with my _brother_?"

"Does that bother you, Bro?" Sean laughed, taking a quick step back as Aaron's eyes flashed dangerously at him.

"You!" Aaron hissed, turning his laser focus on the young man. "You strut into town for the holidays, ransack my house...my life… and try to steal..." Hotch said angrily, breaking off abruptly as his cheeks flushed.

"Steal your what, bro?" Sean said, narrowing his eyes as he grinned at his brother slyly.

"Yes, Hotch," Emily added from the sidelines, her own eyes focusing on his frustrated face as her heart hammered in her chest. "What is it you think Sean's taken from you?" she asked quietly, telling her heart to quit beating so rapidly as she waited impatiently for the answer.

Swallowing, Hotch gazed from Emily's inquisitive face to his brother's satisfied smirking countenance. "You set me up," he accused softly, his eyes filled with indictment.

"Me?" Sean said innocently, pressing a hand to his chest. "Now, would I do something like that to my own brother?"

"In a New York minute," Hotch replied quickly, Sean's wide self-satisfied grin confirming every suspicion he had. "You played a dangerous game, Sean," he shook his head at the younger man, his own earlier anger beginning to defuse rapidly.

"Yeah," Sean snorted, rolling his eyes as he pressed his fingers to his jaw again. "But you won it, didn't you?" he said with a pointed look at Emily.

"Why don't you disappear so I can find that out?" Hotch suggested in a tone that clearly indicated his order wasn't a request.

"Don't mind if I do," Sean grinned. "Maybe I can corner JJ and convince Will that marriage really is in his best interest," he remarked, dropping his hands in his pockets as he ambled back inside the ballroom, whistling the tune to Jingle Bells.

"One day he's going to meet the guy that doesn't stop with a right hook," Hotch muttered, turning back toward a wide eyed Emily Prentiss. "Were you in on it?" he asked, cocking his head at her.

"Uhmmm..." Emily faltered, blushing as she shifted guiltily against the wall under his focused stare. While she had been waiting for this moment all evening, now that it was a reality, she suddenly found herself feeling like a five year old facing the principal.

"Emily," Hotch drawled slowly, advancing on her.

"I didn't know he was going to kiss me under the mistletoe," she offered lamely, fidgeting with the full skirt of her short velvet dress as she bit her lip.

"Are you proud of yourself?" Hotch asked, raising a dark brow as he leveled her with a look that pinned her to the wall.

"That depends," Emily hedged, meeting his eyes as she suddenly felt her earlier hesitation fade away. "Did it work? Am I going to get what I want for Christmas?" she asked, watching his face soften slightly as she spoke.

"Depends on what you wanted," Hotch murmured, arching a brow. "Did you want to find a jealous, slightly damaged man in your stocking this year, Emily?"

"Only if that man is you," Emily whispered truthfully as he moved a step closer.

Shaking his head, Hotch smiled slightly. "Next year, in the interest of my fist and Sean's jaw, do you think it would be possible for you to just hand me your Christmas list?"

"I won't need to," Emily countered hopefully, a smile starting to play on the corner of her lips as she pressed her hands against his lapels. "I think I'm about to get the only gift I ever wanted."

And wrapping his arms around her, Hotch grinned. "We'll see if you're still saying that next Christmas, Agent Prentiss."

Happily, as it turned out, she was. For many, many Christmases to come.

**The End**


End file.
